Naruto's Christmas Carol
by NintendoGal55
Summary: With Sasuke as Scrooge, see the classic tale told in the way of Sasuke, along with Naruto as Bob Cratchet, and starring Kakashi, Jiraiya and Minato as the three ghosts of Christmas.


~Naruto's Christmas Carol~

Starring:

Sasuke Uchiha as Ebenezer Scrooge

Naruto Uzumaki as Bob Cratchet

Kakashi Hatake as The Ghost of Christmas Past

Jiraiya as The Ghost of Christmas Present

Minato Namikaze as The Ghost of Christmas Future

Based on the novel by Charles Dickens

--~~--

Within the small, well built building that was known as Sasuke Uchiha's Counting House, where the young heir sat at his desk, counting his coins with a greedy smile on his face.

His hard-working underpayed employee, Naruto Uzumaki, was seated his own desk, with a feather quill in his hand as he wrote in a book, trying to keep warm in the small, cold house.

Seeing his boss distracted, he decided to chance it.

Naruto carefully got down from his stool, and crept over to the fireplace. He saw a large, generous piece of coal sitting in the bucket next to it. Yes, perfect! Just the thing he needed.

"Uzumaki!" Sasuke suddenly shouted from his desk.

"Ah!" Naruto stumbled a bit, his hands grabbing at the fireplace to steady himself from falling. "Y-yes Mr. Uchiha?"

"What ails you to stop with your work?!" Sasuke demanded, glaring hard at his employee.

"B-but sir...it's really cold! Can't I just put a fire together?" Naruto rubbed his cold, tan hands together to prove his point.

Sasuke snorted. "Oh come on, I gave you a piece of coal last week! If you'd stop shivering and work faster, you'd keep warm. Now get back to work, Uzumaki!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Naruto immediately returned to his desk, going back to work.

Satisfied with his employee succumbing to him, the young Uchiha went back to counting his counts.

"Two thousand and two...two thousand and three..."

"Um, Mr. Uchiha?"

Sasuke looked up in a huff. "What is it, Uzumaki?"

"Well, tomorrow's Christmas and all....you think it's okay if I take the day off?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "I mean, I've got a family and all..."

"Christmas... Hmph, bah humbug." Sasuke muttered, shaking his head. "Well...whatever, go ahead and take the day off. But I'll expect you in the day after! And I'll cut off half your pay for that."

"Y-yes sir..." Naruto replied with a small sigh, going back to work.

Before Sasuke could get back to his counting, there was a knock at his door. With a gruff sigh, he got up from his desk and went to the door, answering it to two men. One of them was holding a tin cup in his hands. One of them had a swirly, orange mask and the other was blonde.

"Hello! Merry Christmas!" The masked one said cheerfully. "Money for the poor! Tobi and senpai are collecting money for the poor!"

"Shut up, Tobi! And stop being so hyper!" The blonde hissed in annoyance.

"Tch." Sasuke shook his head in disgust. "Those poor ingrates can do just fine without my money. I worked hard for it, and the last thing I want is to just give it away. Now away with you two." He tried to close the door, but they blocked it.

"But Mr. Uchiha! It's Christmas!" The masked boy whined.

"Christmas, bah humbug. It's all the same." Sasuke grumbled. "Now go!" He smirked as the two walked off and he shut the door.

"Sir, don't you think-"

"Silence, Uzumaki! Get back to work!"

The blonde employee sighed and did as he was told.

Just as Sasuke was walking back to his desk, there was another knock at his door. Grumbling, he went to answer it. He pulled the door open, the hinges creaking as he did so.

"Merry Christmas, little brother!"

A wreath was draped over his neck and hung down before Sasuke had time to register what had happened.

It was his older brother, Itachi.

(Note: Yes, I know that Itachi is OOC in this, but bear with me, it's for the story!)

"Itachi?! What the?!" Sasuke cried, stumbling back.

"Come one little brother, it's Christmas! Don't forget the family dinner tomorrow night! We can't have it without you, you know."

"Tch, you can forget that, Itachi. Frankly, I'd rather be rotting alone in a dungeon than celebrating this dumb, stupid holiday with the likes of you merry Christmas lovers!" Sasuke growled. "Now leave here!"

"Suit yourself, little brother." Itachi said pleasantly. "But ya know, it'd make a certain cousin of ours very happy if you came."

Sasuke paused, and not a sound was heard in the house. Naruto peeked over his shoulder to glance at the two Uchiha brothers, noticing that light blush tinged Sasuke's cheeks.

"Leave, Itachi. And don't you ever mention her again!" Sasuke slammed the door in his brother's face.

Itachi opened the door and poked his head in. "Oh well, Merry Christmas to you!"

"And a bah humbug to you!" Sasuke yelled angrily. He stalked back to his desk and sat down, grumbling under his breath.

Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was 6:30, the end of Naruto's shift for the day.

"Hmph, you may go now, Uzumaki."

"Yeah?! Really?! Thanks, sir!" Naruto slammed his book shut, hopped off his stool, and put on his hat and scarf. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Uchiha! Bye!" He hurried out of the counting house with a bounce in his step.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, continued to count his coins before bagging them up, and then getting read to leave himself.

Once again, it was another lonely Christmas.

Not that he cared, of course. He was Sasuke Uchiha, the greediest being in the fair village of Konoha.

--~~--

So that very night, Sasuke went home and ate cold meal before going to bed. He planned to stay inside his house all day, not all to bother with the Christmas business he so despised.

As Sasuke was about dozing off, he heard a strange noise. He ignored it. But as it progressed, he was beginning to wonder what it was and what he could do to make it go away.

Unable to take it, Sasuke sat up in his bed, straightening his nightcap.

"Hi there."

Snapping his gaze to his bedside, he saw a tall man standing there. His hair was silvery gray in a spiked up fashion. He had on a big green vest, a black shirt, black pants, a scarf covering his left eye, and a mask on his face. His right eye was the only exposed part of his face. He was also see-through, like a ghost.

"W-what?! How did you get into my house?!" Sasuke yelled, surprised and angry.

"Hm, I take it you don't know who I am, do you?" The tall ghost said in an amused tone.

"I won't have to if you get out of here." Sasuke replied.

"Well then, I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past."

Sasuke blinked, and then snorted. "Oh please. You expect me to believe THAT? What a joke!"

The Ghost of Christmas past chuckled. "Well then, I'll just prove it to you." He snapped his fingers, and instantaneously, they found themselves in front of a window at the Uchiha Mansion.

"Huh?" Sasuke looked around, completely confused. "What kind of trickery is this?! This is..."

"Your old home, Sasuke." The ghost said. "Take a look."

Sasuke turned and looked into the window they were in front of. Sure enough, he saw the dining room and living room where the Christmas Tree was. He then saw a young man there, a few years younger than he was, sitting in the room with a girl.

"Why...why that's me!" Sasuke realized. "That was me, some years ago! And that's....that's..."

"Your cousin, Orivia." Said the Ghost of Christmas Past. "I believe you were in love with her."

This made Sasuke's gaze drift downcast, a light blush on his cheeks.

"I guess you know everything." He sighed. "But fine, you're right. Back then, I loved her more than anything...she was everything to me."

"And then you were consumed by greed." The Ghost of Christmas Past shook his head. "You loved all the money you had more than her."

"...Don't remind me! Shut up!" Sasuke yelled.

"Now now, let's calm down." Said the ghost, waving his hands. "Keep looking."

Sasuke glared, but then looked back through the window. He couldn't look away from his dear cousin, especially since he remembered how heartbroken he'd made her, since being consumed by his greed.

Inside, his past self and she were talking, and he pulled her closer and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. She blushed and smiled lovingly, looking like the brightest lights on the tree.

Sighing, Sasuke could feel his heart churn with regret and guilt.

"So you see now, Sasuke. Before you were consumed with greed, you had a lovely family, a good home, and a precious woman who you loved and loved you." Said the ghost. "And then, the death of your parents came, and their inheritance to you made you completely greedy. Such a shame..." The ghost pulled out a ghost book and he started to read it. "You could've had a great life."

"...Why are you showing me this?! What is the meaning of it all?!" Sasuke demanded.

"Like I said, I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past." The ghost shrugged. "Well then, off you go!" He snapped his fingers.

Sasuke then found himself back in his room, in his bed. It was as though nothing had happened. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking of it.

"...What was that...why did it happen? Was it just a dream?" Sasuke wondered, frowning at his bedsheets.

Sighing, he settled in his bed and decided to go back to sleep.

No sooner did he doze when he heard another noise. This time, it sounded like...laughing.

Weird laughter.

With a groan, Sasuke awoke and sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. At the foot of his bed, he saw a man with a hand-held telescope, looking through the window outside. He too was a ghost. He had long, white hair, odd ancient clothing, and a frog on his shoulder. He was also a ghost, apparently.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!?" Sasuke shouted.

"Shh! I'm doing research!" The man said, brushing him off.

Sasuke frowned. "Who are you?"

"Huh, me? Oh! Yeah!" The ghost stood up, grinning. He had a wart on the left side of his nose. "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present!"

"...." Sasuke just couldn't believe it. What was going on here? Was he dreaming? Or just going crazy.

"So come on then, grouchy! We got things you have to see!" The ghost cajoled.

"Huh!?" Sasuke blinked, and then found himself in the streets of Konoha again. He was in front of a different house, a much smaller house. "Hey! What is this? Where am I?"

"Where else?" Said the Ghost of Christmas Present. "We're at the house of your hard-working, under-payed employee Naruto Uzumaki!"

"....Oh..."

Sasuke peered into the window of the house. He saw the Uzumaki family sitting at the table for dinner. His wife, Sakura, their children, and of course, their youngest, Tiny Tim, came into the room on a crutch. The little boy had polio and could barely walk.

What he couldn't believe, was the food on the table. There was the smallest turkey, side dishes, and nothing else. Even the tiniest pie that could barely have fed two people.

But, the family was all smiles and cheerful, even Tiny Tim was happy. It was obvious to see that even though the family was poor and couldn't afford a full Christmas meal, all that mattered was that they were together, and always remembered the love in their household.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Tiny Tim was saying happily, waving his crutch.

Naruto and Sakura laughed, the other two children giggled. Indeed, the family was happy. Poor and hungry, but happy.

"....Wow...it's unbelievable." Sasuke could barely believe his eyes. "They can barely afford to feed themselves and yet they're as happy as can be!"

"It would help ya know, if you payed him a bit more...he could even help to get his son some treatment and ease the pain from his leg!" The ghost grinned.

Sasuke sighed, unsure of how to respond. "....I never realized how it was. I was always so greedy and focused on myself...I never knew my own employee was facing such a thing."

"Well that's the point of all this, ol Uchiha!" Said the Ghost of Christmas Present. "Who knows, you could learn something!"

With the flick of a wrist, Sasuke then found himself back in his room. This time, he didn't even bother going to sleep. Somehow, he knew what was next.

Sure enough, he was visited by another ghost.

"Hello Sasuke. I am the Ghost of Christmas Future. Come with me...and you will see." This ghost was tall, in a long white coat. He was blonde, blue eyes, and looking kind. He looked like he could be Naruto's father.

"Christmas Future..." Sasuke mumbled, and then they appeared somewhere. The streets of Konoha again.

Up ahead, some men were walking, and speaking among each other.

"I heard Sasuke Uchiha died."

"Well, that's just too bad."

"He deserved it if you ask me."

"No kidding. With a man like him gone, we can finally live in peace."

"The world doesn't need greedy bastards like him."

"...." Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"His cousin got married last week."

"Did she? Wasn't there an arranged marriage between her and Sasuke?"

"Yeah, but after he died, it was called off. She seemed happy with that, glad to be rid of marrying him."

"No kidding, I don't blame her."

"....I can't believe it...people end up GLAD that I've died?" Sasuke uttered in disbelief.

"Well I am the Ghost of Christmas Future. If things continue the way they are, this will indefinitely happen, Sasuke." Said the ghost. "Do you understand what you must do?"

"I....I...." Sasuke stammered, unsure of what to say by now.

"Think it over, Sasuke...and you will know."

The world around them soon faded, and Sasuke once again found himself in his room. He sat up in his bed, blinking hard.

"I...that was..."

Sasuke looked out the window. It was morning. Christmas Day!

And he knew what he had to do.

Immediately, Sasuke got up from his bed and got dressed. For the first time in a long time, he was smiling, looking cheerful.

Sasuke left his house, passing people on the street.

"Merry Christmas." They said.

"Merry Christmas!" Sasuke said cheerfully.

They seemed surprised at this, but smiled and continued on their way.

As Sasuke went along, he ran into the two charity collectors from yesterday.

"Hello, gentleman! And a Merry Christmas to you! Here, take these!" He handed them two bags of coins.

"Wow! Yay! Thank you!" Said Tobi, cheering on.

"Not a problem, Merry Christmas!"

--~~--

Naruto was getting a few things ready to give the kids for Christmas. They could barely afford one gift per child, but it was enough.

"At least you tried, Naruto." Sakura consoled her husband. "We'll always know that."

Smiling sadly, Naruto nodded. "You're right, Sakura. I just wish I could give our kids so much more. They deserve better than this."

"I know they do, they always do. But, at least there's love in our house." Sakura said sweetly.

There was a knock on the door. Naruto went to answer it, opening it to his boss, who was carrying two bundles.

"Mr. Uchiha!" He said in surprise. As much as he hated the bastard, he tried to remain cool.

"Good day to you, Naruto!" Sasuke said cheerfully with a smile. "I have some things for you and your lovely family!"

"W-what!?" Naruto let his boss in, shocked. "What do you mean!?"

"I mean these." Sasuke placed one bundle on the table, pulling out a Christmas dinner. A huge turkey, a few side dishes, some pies...it was enough to feed the entire family for a week! "I have also arranged a month of free groceries for your family! And, I'll be giving you a raise."

"A raise!" Naruto exclaimed. "You mean it?!"

"Of course." Sasuke smiled. "And most of all, I want to make you my partner."

"...Your partner! Wow...you...that's great!" Naruto grinned happily. "Th-thank you, sir!"

"Please, call me Sasuke. Oh! And that reminds me. Here, some things for you and your wife, and your children!" He opened the other bundle, revealing neatly wrapped gifts and toys.

All the children clamoured happily for their gifts, while Naruto and Sakura each received a lovely gift. A handsome pair of gloves for Naruto, and a scarf for Sakura.

Tiny Tim looked around the happy family and grinned. "God Bless us, everyone!"

Naruto and Sakura were so grateful for what Sasuke had done for their family that they offered for him to stay for dinner with them. Sasuke politely declined, saying that he had to attend a family dinner of his own.

--~~--

By the time Sasuke arrived at the Uchiha Mansion, word had already gotten around to the great deeds he'd performed along the town.

He greeted his relatives, giving them all a hug and a handshake, glad to see them and to celebrate with them.

And of course, he went to his beloved cousin Orivia, who was happy and surprised at his change of heart.

Taking out a small box, Sasuke knelt down before her on one knee, opening the box to reveal a gorgeous engagement ring, a ruby surrounded by diamonds. She was shocked at this. Tears ran down her face and she nodded, managing a smile.

Without a doubt, thanks to the help of the three spirits, Sasuke found his true heart and was once again as he should be, no longer consumed by greed.

It was truly a great Christmas, and there was so much more to come.


End file.
